Never No More
by MaiXii
Summary: Some day, this needed to stop. I knew better, deep down inside. But he was my father. What was I supposed to do? I'm Leila Thomas, seventeen year old senior at Woodcrest High School. I have a handful of friends, only because I don't really talk to people. My mother left me and my father abuses me. And, I somehow know latin... and weird spells. (This summary also eats booty. Sorry)
1. Chapter 1

I closed my eyes tightly, willing the pain to go away. It was my fault in the end. If I had listened, he wouldn't have hurt me. But some day, this needed to stop. I knew better, deep down inside. But he was my father. What was I supposed to do?

I slowly exhale, diving into the wonderful world of sleep. At least then, I can escape the torment of those around me.

I'm Leila Thomas, seventeen year old senior at Woodcrest High School. I have a handful of friends, only because I don't really talk to people. I have exceptional grades, a GPA of 4.5. But that can't save me. Nothing could.

My mother left when I was thirteen, throwing my father into depression. I don't really know what happened, but he started drinking and became more and more angry with each passing year. After a while, he started beating me. At first, it was mere slaps and pushes as punishment. Now it's kicks, punches, scratches, grabbing, and throwing.

I know it's my fault for not being a perfect daughter. I can't seem to do things right when he's around. I'm usually paralyzed with fear until he yells at me, causing me to jump and go into overdrive. But it still wouldn't be right. I'm not his perfect daughter.

I look at the ceiling, debating on whether to go to school or not. I get up, slowly moving my now aching body. I look down at my arms and legs, seeing the bruises from harsh grips and thrown items. At least he didn't hit my face. That would be less money in his pocket for makeup to cover it up and such.

I feel tears prickle my eyes as I force my pain filled body to move. I should just run away. He'd be better off without me in the long run. I wasn't a perfect daughter, and he hated me for it. I shouldn't be allowed to live with him.

I quickly get dressed, a simple pair of skinny jeans and an oversized shirt, the usual. I wasn't flashy or outgoing. There was no need to. I was a simple girl. I wore no makeup, I didn't flat iron my curly hair, I didn't wear too tight clothes. I just tried to survive with what I was given.

Speaking of my curly hair, I ran a hand through it. I needed to comb it out. I yanked my hand from the tangled mess and grabbed the nearest comb.

My hair was long and curly. Those cute, tight spiral curls that looked good on everyone but me. It hung down, reaching my collarbone and I looked into a mirror. I tried to smile, but it didn't work. I couldn't conjure a smile even if I tried. I hated living. I was useless and ungrateful. There was no reason for me to live if I couldn't even perform simple tasks right.

I was going to have to get out of this someway.

I grab my backpack and exit the house, closing it quietly as to not wake my father. I didn't want fresh bruises while I had to walk. It happened once, and it wasn't pleasant. Nothing about my life was pleasant.

"Hey." I hear, and I turn my head quickly. The voice startled me. I meet eyes with Huey, one of my handful of friends. If I could call him that. I don't think anyone could call him his friend, seeing as he's mostly antisocial. I only knew him because I knew Jazmine, one of his 'friends'. In my eyes, Huey saw Jazmine more as a pest than a friend, but he never pushed her away or snapped at her. So maybe they had some sort of mutual friendship.

"Hello Huey." I say, fiddling with the bottom of my shirt with my head down. What a submissive pose. That's just who I was. I was so used to doing this around people, especially my father. I couldn't look into his eyes or else he'd slap me for disrespecting him. Something so backwards, I didn't even understand.

"Get in the car." He says, striking fear into me. His steady and seemingly detached voice reminded me of my father and I looked up at him. I could only imagine what he could see in my eyes, and I quickly turned away, afraid of giving away any secrets. He didn't need to know anything about me.

I feel the fear grab my heart tightly and I have to force myself to start walking, hopefully getting away from him. I turn my head, seeing him driving by me, still slightly confused. "Are you ok?" He asks, and I nod my head quickly, not being able to speak.

I was still afraid. My breathing seemed to have gotten shorter, and I was genuinely afraid. It wasn't Huey, it was the words, the tone of voice. It brought back memories of fear and anger. I needed to get away.

"Are you going to-"

"No. I'm fine." I quickly say, closing my eyes. I needed to get away. I needed to get away quickly. I hear his door open and I look seeing him get out and run to me, saying something, I couldn't hear. That was weird. I turn back around, only to run into a car. Or, a car to run into me.

I close my eyes, feeling even more pain in my body as I launch forward, my body hitting the pavement hard. I never knew being hit by a car was so painful.

What a horrible fate I have. I feel myself being turned over slowly, several people crowding around and looking at me. I open my eyes, meeting the wine colored ones of Huey's. "An ambulance is on it's way." He says, and I open my mouth.

"N-no. I'm fine." I whisper, trying to sit up. It was hard to speak and breathe. Maybe because of the pain. My head was pounding, my leg painfully aching and my wrist was stinging, but it was something I was used to. Huey puts a hand on my shoulder, laying me back down. He then touches my forehead, causing me to hiss. He then draws his hand back, showing me the sticky red liquid on his fingers.

"An ambulance is on its way." He repeats, and someone hands him a handkerchief, which he uses to wipe my forehead. Someone leans forward, her mouth moving and I frown.

"W-what?" I asks, not being able to hear her. She mouth moves in a similar way, but still nothing. I try to shake my head. "I-I can't… Are you even speaking?" She turns to look at Huey, who looks at her and his mouth starts moving, saying something.

I couldn't hear anything. What was going on? Was I dying in reverse? Was I deaf? The next thing I knew was being loaded onto the stretcher and losing consciousness.

What a scary experience. I really did and didn't want this. But I think it's a bit too late to regret it now.

I was dying.


	2. Chapter 2

Jazmine was the first thing I saw when my eyes opened. When her green eyes met my gray, she flipped. Guess I didn't die.

"She's awake!" She exclaims to what I think is others in the room. Suddenly several people move forward, surrounding my bed. Jazmine, a guy with dreads, Riley, Huey, and Hiro.

"You okay, doll?" Hiro asks, and I try to smile at the nickname, but I couldn't.

"Uhm, I hope I don't have morning breath." I try to joke, and those around me crack a smile, except for Huey. But that was expected. I've never seen him smile, and based on Jazmine's words, he didn't.

"You broke your leg." Huey says, and I look at him, then at my cast covered leg, elevated by a pillow.

"Ha." I mutter, trying to lighten the mood. "I guess I did."

"You lost a lot of blood." Jazmine says, still worried. "When Huey told me what happened, I rushed here and when they let visitors in, you were sleep and so pale. I was so scared." She mutters, and I shake my head.

"Don't worry about it." I say, putting a hand up to steady my spinning head. Shaking it was stupid, just like me.

"You also sprained your wrist." Huey says, and I look at the hand I raised up. It was covered with a black splint.

"Oh." I mumble, and turn to Huey. "What else did I break?"

"Nothing." He says. "You have a scrape on your forehead, but other than that and your broken leg and sprained wrist, you're fine." He looked as if he wanted to say more, but went against it.

I nod, sighing. I close my eyes, trying not to focus on the fact that I must have looked even more of a mess than I usually did. When I got home, I'd probably get it, despite what state I was in. He never really cared about what happened to me, just as long as I did something right. Which was never.

As expected of a useless child like me.

"Do you want me to call your dad and tell him-"

"No!" I say quickly. Too quickly. Everyone looks at me surprised and Riley frowns. I couldn't go back right now. At least let me get a couple days rest before I go back.

"He ain't worried about you or some shit?"

"H-he probably is." I say to Riley, but I shake my head lightly, ignoring the minor spinning and ache. "Ah, he's probably sleeping right now though. He works night shifts." I didn't even know the time. What if it _was_ night?

"I think we should call." Jazmine says, crossing her arms. "He's probably worried sick right about now Leila."

"It's Leila's dad." Hiro says. "We should let him and her rest. If she wants she can call in the morning." He says, and I silently thank the gods for him. He turns to face me, giving me a small smile, one that I give back.

But any smile I give is never genuine. I haven't smiled because I was happy in years. All of the smiles and laughter I give to the handful of friends I have was fake. And there was something in Hiro's eyes that I caught. It worried me. Was he going to call my dad? I just hoped he didn't. He can't, not right now.

Jazmine sighs, checking her watch. "Oh, we gotta go." She says, looking at the dread head, who stayed quiet. "Let's go Caesar." She says, walking to the door with the dread head in tow. "Bye Leila! When I come back it'll be with a whole bunch of gifts!" She says, waving. I smile as a response, a quiet bye slipping from my lips.

I look around at the three remaining guys.

"Your dad hits you, don't he?" Riley says, and I look at him, my eyes wide.

"W-what are you t-t-talking a-about?" I stutter, surprised. "That's ridiculous."

"Doll." Hiro says. The tone in his voice was sad. "We saw the bruises." He shakes his head. "I was the first one Huey called when they took you here."

That must've been what Huey wanted to say and what I saw in Hiro's eyes. They knew my secret. I was speechless, but it was only a matter of time, especially with Huey's big brain.

"I-I-I-"

"Leila." Huey says, stopping my stutters. "We can help you."

"N-no." I say, trying to sit up. "I-I'm fine. My father doesn't hit me." I couldn't understand why I was lying. I truly hated getting hurt by my father. But I had no where else to go. My father was the only one who could put up with such a useless child. Anyone else would have killed me by now.

"Then how you got all them bruises? You running into walls and shit?" Riley says, crossing his arms.

I was stuck. Riley walked up to my hospital bed, pulling the blanket down and showing my bare and hairless legs. Good thing I shaved. Well, now isn't the time for jokes, but I had to lighten things up somehow. He looks at me, then at the bruises littered on my legs from kicks and grabs.

"I bet there are more on yo stomach." He says, crossing his arms. He looks at one in particular, uncrossing his arms and raising my leg up, causing me to blush and cry out in pain. He maneuvered around my broken one and looks at me. "This is a whole fucking handprint, Leila! Who's handprint is it?" He asks, and I look at him, my eyes wide and full of tears.

"P-please…" I mutter, tears falling from my eyes. "P-please don't tell anyone." I cry. I cover my face with my hands. I was so weak and useless.

"Leila." Riley gently, but sternly says. "We _have_ to. You can't live wit that nigga no more." He places my leg back down. "He ain't doing no… nasty shit to you, is he?"

I shake my head, still crying. I couldn't stop crying. I was a mess. A useless mess. I couldn't do anything right. I'm so stupid.

"Riley." Huey says, and Riley backs away, Hiro moving forward and taking me into his arms, trying not to hurt me.

"Sorry doll, but Riley's right. We gotta get you outta there."

"I-I-I d-don't h-h-have a-anywhere t-to go." I cry, wiping my face. Hiro grabs my hands, being careful with my sprained wrist as he pulled them away from my face.

"You know you do." He says sternly as tears pour down my face. "You know Huey and Riley's grandad love you. And I live on my own, so you can always come there. And there's Jazmine's parents who'll let anyone stay there. So you have places to go."

"B-b-but if I leave, h-he'll…"

"We'll protect you." Huey says, taking a step forward.

"We can go in that bitch right now and show that nigga what he got comin." Riley says, cracking his knuckles. "How dare he hurt his own daughter. That bitch nigga."

"G-guys…" I sniff. "I-I can't." I look down. I'd be just as useless wherever I went. A change of scenery couldn't change anything. I'd be better off lying in a ditch, dead. I didn't deserve this, any of this.

"We'll give you some time to rest." Hiro says, the intensity in his eyes frightening me. "But he isn't getting away with any of this." The tone of his voice struck me speechless. I closed my eyes.

What a blessing, being around such people. "We will take him down." Hiro says, and I slowly nod.


	3. Chapter 3

Premonitions. I didn't think I could have any. I'm not a spiritual person, or at least I didn't think so. My mother was. Maybe her spirit told her to leave her husband and daughter. My mother was such a wonderful woman. Can you hear the sarcasm in my voice? Ah, well, whatever. I love thinking my mother loved me.

She had to. She was my mother. She was the only one who thought I wasn't useless.

The random and continuous thought of her made my eyes shoot open and I look around, slightly afraid. I'm always slightly afraid of waking up in an unfamiliar place. What if it was a coffin? With that in mind, anyone would be afraid. I look at the nightstand where a digital clock sat. It was twelve in the afternoon. If I was with my father, he would have beaten me awake by now. But I wasn't.

We were all at the Freeman house, and by all, I mean the whole group, even the dread head. I look around at the sleepy forms all around. Me and Jazmine had taken the bed, Huey sleeping in a chair, Riley sleeping on the floor of one side of the bed, Hiro on the other and dread head or Caesar was sleeping near the door.

It was a mess of people, but being surrounded made me feel nice. It made me want to sing. It made me want my mother.

"Are you ok?" Huey asks, and I turn to look at him.

"A-ah…" I stutter. "I-I want my mother." I mumble, looking down. I felt like a child. I was pathetic.

"Is she with your father?" He asks, and I sigh. I wished. My life probably wouldn't have taken a turn for the worse. I wouldn't be as useless as I am now.

"No. I don't know where she is." I look back up, giving him a fake smile. "But I'll be ok."

No I won't. Something was telling me that I needed my mother. I couldn't really understand, but I needed to find her. "We should…" I close my mouth, shaking my head. "Nevermind." Forget my mother.

Huey gets up, and walks out of the room, carefully dodging the bodies. I look down, staring at my leg cast. Then I looked at my wrist.

There was that feeling again. Premonitions. Something was telling me… to do something. I don't know. I can't understand it.

First time I felt this feeling was a month before my mom left. I thought it meant as if I was apart of something bigger, something cool. I always thought I was different from other people, because my mother was.

No, my mother wasn't some type of alien or something. She was Wiccan. It was really cool to me before. I thought she'd have book full of spell books and jars full of eyes. I thought it was something cool and great. Something that had been passed down to me.

What a load of shit. I wasn't special. I was useless. I _am_ useless. Nothing about me would ever, _ever_ be special. I guess I have to embrace that.

I shake my head, debating on whether to get out of bed or not. I watched as Huey walked back inside of the room, now shirtless. "Do you need help?" He asks, and my eyes widen and my face heats up. I was a mess.

"I-if I wanna get out of bed." I say with a nervous chuckle. "T-the sleeping arrangement was uh… a little uh, m-messy."

"Yeah." He says, moving to me. I watch as he turns around, his back facing me.

"Y-you're giving me a piggyback ride?" I ask, and he turns to face me, his eyebrow raised.

"Unless you want to try and avoid stepping on someone or tripping… then yes." He says, and I nod, a small smile on my face. I wrap my arms around his neck and try my best to get my legs around him. I was struggling for a while, but he helped, grabbing my thighs. I watched as he maneuvered around everyone, my mind going back to my mother.

'_Everything that happens is for a reason. Any feeling you feel in your gut should be heeded. Don't let anyone tell you you're wrong when you're following your instincts. Corde tuo ausculta.' _[**Listen to your heart.**]

I frown a bit at the words. It was weird that they came back. But then again, I never really think of my mother.

"Corde tuo ausculta…" I mutter, slightly confused. "Did she ever tell me what that meant?

"You speak latin?" Huey asks as he puts me down and I look up at him.

"No." I shake my head. "My mother did… I guess…" I start to waddle closer to the door, wishing I had crutches around me. But, silly, useless me left them somewhere. I open the door, slightly confused. "I didn't know that was latin."

"That's…" Huey stops, looking at me. I assume he didn't wanna offend my by speaking bad about my mother.

"Weird?" I offer, and he reluctantly nods. Maybe he didn't want to offend me. That's nice. "Yeah. She was Wiccan, so I guess it was apart of the package."

Huey frowns a bit more, but nods, accepting it. "Well, I'm gonna go... take a bath." I say, waddling away from him. It was weird talking about my mother to other people. It's weird talking about her period.. Maybe I should get into contact with her. I waddle to the bathroom, closing the door behind me. Without thinking I undressed and ran the water.

I managed to take a successful bath with my leg elevated on the edge of the tub. It was a nice bath. I relaxed and lowered myself into the water, making sure my cast didn't touch the water.

After a while, I sat back up and started cleaning myself.

The rest of the day was mundane. Our makeshift group was trying to figure out how they could inform the police about my father, and still keep me around.

Mr. Freeman; who insisted I call him Grandad, like everyone else, was adding his two cents, saying how I could always stay here. But it didn't feel right. Something was off and I assume it was just my 'premonition' but something was going wrong.

I didn't really believe it until the night, when I layed my head down on the pillow, being sandwiched in between Hiro and Riley. Jazmine had went home, not being able to stay in a room full of guys. I think Tom was appalled at my actions, deciding to stay with the Freemans and Hiro and not him and his family. I just felt… more comfortable. If I was at the Dubois, I'd be sleeping alone in the guest room, no matter what Jazmine said. That's just how Tom was. Riley and Hiro made sure that I wasn't alone, and I appreciate that. I needed that.

But back to everything. I didn't feel right. Like more so than usual. And when I closed my eyes, I only saw flashes. Flashes of color, wild color. Color filled with hate and anger. How did I know what the emotion of this color was… I don't know. Did it matter? Soon, everything settled into a permanent red.

I had my hands over my eyes in this dream, sobbing uncontrollably. Something was terribly wrong. I had no control over my actions as I stumbled up, almost tripping over my own legs as I ran to something, to someone.

Huey. His hands were red and was pressing down on something. A wound. I continue to cry as I look at the persons face. It was Hiro.

Everything then clicked. It was as if memories rushed to my mind, but these weren't memories, this was just a dream. My father attacked Hiro. We were doing something… something I couldn't remember, but it was something and he lunged for Hiro, or me because Hiro was in front of me. Guess my memories of the action weren't there. Whatever, I don't even know, but he was hurt and my father ran away.

He tried to kill Hiro. Trying to kill me was fine but trying to kill one of my friends was out of the question. They were the only ones who would care if I disappeared. So I pushed Huey away, covering his wound with my hand.

'_Curabit istud vulnus.' _[**Heal this wound.**] Slips from my mouth and my hand glows an orange color. What the fuck was going on? What was I saying. What is going on. '_Please..._' I whisper, tears still falling from my eyes. I feel something rush through me and then nothing.

My eyes pop open and I look up, seeing Riley looking down at me. "What's wrong?" He asks, and I give him a confused look. "You're crying." He says, and I reach up, touching my face. I was crying. I wipe my tears away and sniff a bit.

"I-I…"

"You were also speaking some weird language."

"L-latin spells." Slips out of my mouth before I could think. "I-I mean… I don't really… know…"

"Spells? You do some weird witchcraft shit?"

"M-my mother is Wiccan… so I guess I know a bit from her." I shake my head, Riley moving to help me sit up.

"Yo, you think you got powers or some shit?"

"T-that's not what Wicca is about." I say, closing my eyes. "Y-yeah, they have spells… I guess, but it's not anything supernatural. We a-aren't in some sort of fantasy novel." I look down at my hands. "A-and if I did have powers, wouldn't you think I'd do something to live better? I-I didn't want my dad to hurt me… but I'm just so-"

"Doll, if you say anything to put yourself down, I'm gonna launch into a lecture." Hiro says, sleep apparent in his voice. "And I am too damn tired for some fucking lecture."

"S-sorry." I mutter, laying my head down. Riley yawns.

"Hiro's right." He says, laying down on his pillow. "I'm goin back to sleep."

"You too." Hiro says, wrapping his arm around me and pushing me back to lay down. "Sleep, doll." He says, and I sigh, closing my eyes.

Getting to sleep after that dream would be hard. I remember it vividly, everything about it. The colors, the vivid blood, everything. Hopefully, nothing like that will happen to any of the people I care about. I hope that nothing bad happens in the future.

But I know how fate likes to fuck people over.


	4. Chapter 4

"This doesn't make any sense." Hiro says, tossing his phone down, startling me slightly. I look down at my hands as he continues to talk. "We've been trying to get through to everyone! The police, CPS, ambulances, Tom! Everyone. It's like, when we bring up you and your father, they don't say anything! Like he's been erased from everyone's mind!"

"Plus, Hiro is asian! Twelve ain't got no reason to hate on him! He a smart nigga!"

"We should talk to him." Hiro says, causing me to look at him, my eyes wide. Was he talking about my father? No. These few weeks away from him, away from his words, away from his attacks, have been wonderful.

"N-No-"

"That was a stupid idea." Huey says, shaking his head. "The person we should track down is her mother."

"Her mom?" Riley asks, frowning. "What her mom got to do wit anything?"

"Can't you see? This has much more to do with just a little domestic abuse. It's as if he never existed, but I passed by your old place, and he's still there." Huey crosses his arms. "You say your mother's Wiccan, so maybe he's got something going on also."

"W-what do you mean?" I ask, looking around. I have been thinking of my mother a bit more than I used to, so was that a sign?

"We should find your mom." He says.

"Where will we find her though?" Hiro asks. "We have no leads on her or anything. No one knows where she's at."

"We don't even know her name!" Riley says, and I look at him, pulling my cast covered leg up on the sofa I was on.

"A-ah, her name is Celeste Maeve." I say.

"So, she shouldn't be that hard to find." Hiro says, looking at me. I nod, unsure.

I haven't seen her in years. I almost forgot what she looked like sometimes, but then I always remember. Her hair a long brown, always straight. -I wonder if that was the work of my father. He always thought I'd be better if my hair was straight, but he never wanted to buy me a flat iron.- She had a sweet smile, her brown eyes lighting up when she saw someone she adored and cared for. She told me once that since she couldn't have anymore children, so I would forever be the light of her life. That was a lie. I obviously wasn't cherished as much as I thought since she left me in my father's clutches.

I feel the sour feeling of betrayal and anger fill me up. She must really hate me. I don't blame her either. I'm terrible. I couldn't do anything right.

'_Noli enim putare talibus teipsum.'_ [**Do not think such things of yourself.**] I'm sorry.

I blink a bit at the response, running a hand over my face. I was going crazy! I was speaking latin words I didn't know and was responding to them. It's because I'm useless. Because I'm such an idiot, I've gone crazy. I close my eyes tightly.

'_Desine quaeso.' _[**Please stop.**] I clench my hands. I'm so fucking crazy.

"Leila!" Riley calls out, making me look at him, eyes wide. They were all looking at me as if I had grown a second head

"What?"

"You eyes is fucked up." Riley says, earning him a slap from Huey.

"W-what?" I ask. My eyes are messed up? What were they doing, bleeding or something. I touch under my eyes, just in case they were. Okay, I seemed to be cool.

"They seem… darker." Hiro says cautiously. "Could it be the lighting?" He looks around, looking into people eyes.

"Maybe you are one of those things yo mother is. What was it...Wigga?"

"Wicca, Riley. Her mother was Wiccan." Huey says, massaging the bridge of his nose and I couldn't help but chuckling a bit. Riley was something else. But this was important. I had to compose myself. "But I don't think being Wiccan can make your eyes change colors. It has to be something different."

"What are you guys talking about?" I ask, my voice rising in pitch. This was unbelievable. I wasn't special. "I'm not some sort of… mystical being! Why are you guys even implying anything like that?"

"Some nigga died and came back from Hell to kick our asses." Riley says, crossing his arms. "I believe in anything if it's right in front of me."

I frown and turn to Huey. He was the rational one. This is real life we're talking about. Nothing like that could be happening. It didn't exist. "Please don't tell me you think I'm some sort of… of witch!" I am not special. I'm nothing. I'm useless.

He shrugs. "You said it yourself." I cover my face, exasperated. What was wrong with them? "But, I think it'd be best to speak to your mother before coming to conclusions about anything."

At least that was rational enough that I could agree to. I couldn't wrap my head around being some sort of person of use. I knew that wasn't me.

"Aye, do that mean we get to do our little tracking shit?" Riley asks, and Huey nods. Riley's face splits into a smile and he cheers. "Yes! I've been dying to show you that I got better at that shit! Faster too."

"And what will I do?" Hiro asks, and Huey turns to face him.

"Check on her father." Huey says, and I look at him.

"No!" I say loudly, eyes wide. My throat tightens in fear. What if he gets hurt. He can't get hurt!

"What's wrong?" The guys ask in unison.

"Don't go near my father!" I say, looking at Hiro. "Any of you guys! Please, don't go-"

"We won't be there physically. Hiro snuck in the house and planted small cameras everywhere." Huey says, and the fear slowly fades away.

"W-wait… what? Why?"

"We couldn't call the police, so we just set the place up." Riley says, shrugging. "He ain't doing shit without us seeing it… which is weird."

"You guys are insane." I say, shaking my head. Riley gets up, stretching and walks off, saying something. I watch as Hiro also leaves, leaving me and Huey.

"Uhm… what do you do?" I ask and he raises an eyebrow. "W-well, Riley tracks people… Hiro does the… stalking… and you?"

"It's more of Riley does background checks, Hiro does the dirty work, and I do the planning." I nod.

"O-oh." I mutter. That was weird. "I-I… Riley doesn't seem the type to.. work with a computer. He seems more like… like the brawns than…"

"Oh, he's still plain old Riley. He is the brawns, me and Hiro being the brain. But he's much much smarter than he gives off. That's what make Riley, Riley." He says, and I nod, understanding. He has people underestimate him so he could surprise them and make them look stupid. Smart.

"Hey! I think everyone should see this." Hiro calls out, and Huey gets up, walking to him. I try to get up, but everytime I put pressure onto my wrist it hurts, so it was hard. I finally manage to get up, slightly wobbling. I look around for my crutches and groan. I always seem to forget them. I didn't really use them due to the armpit ache, but they were helpful.

I wobble my way to Hiro and the rest. They were all looking at a tiny computer screen, so I had to wiggle my way in between to see what it was. "Is that my mother?" I move closer to the screen. It was. Everything about her was my mother. That woman on the screen was the one who birthed me, talking to my father with a small smirk on her face as if she won a prize.

"What are they saying?" Huey asks and Hiro presses a couple of buttons.

_"So my daughter is missing."_ She says crossing her arms. My father walks toward her, a drink in hand and scoffs. Why would she be smirking if she found that out? Doesn't she care?

_"Our daughter Celeste. Our daughter is gone."_

My mother does an amused sounding hum. _"Isn't that right."_ She shakes her head, still smirking. _"Well, where is she?" _Was she just as sick as my father? If she was, I wouldn't know what to do.

_"She's fucking missing, so how the hell am I supposed to know?"_ He says loudly, making me wince and close my eyes. It was as if he was right in front of me. I open them, and see the dangerous look my mother gave him.

_"Leila might be someone you can push and beat around, but I am not."_ She says, her voice low and cold. This woman was someone unfamiliar to me. And for her to just... mock me... _"So for you to even think you can raise your voice at me is a foolish thought. You think that my little spell to protect your sorry ass is helpful, but it only helps me for when I dispose of you."_

_"Dispose of me?"_ He asks, backing down. Who knew my mother was the dominant one. I scoff a bit, anger filling me. Was I just a plaything to everyone? For my mother- For _Celeste _to casually bring up the abuse told me that she knew, all this time and just let it happen. How dare she.

_"You think I'll just let you beat her when she comes back?_ Fuck that." She says coldly. _"I told you not to harm her. You're lucky_ she _didn't kill you!"_

_"That useless little girl couldn't if she tried." _He says, sipping some of his drink. It was probably alcohol. My mother shook her head.

_"Humans."_ She says, shaking her head. _"You think you are on top of the world because you can beat a little girl, don't you?_" She circles him. _"Such a strong man."_ She puts her hands on his shoulders, sliding them over his body. _"Such a manly man because you beat your daughter. The only one who loved you. It makes me sad really. You feel so empowered when you see her cower before you because you are so used to being attacked. You always cowered from someone else's hand, so you see that as power. When really, she only has a few days."_

_"A few days til what?"_

_"She's awakening. I know exactly where she's at. She's with those who protect her. And with those people, she knows her true calling. It was like that for me when I met you, remember? You, Alexander, and Hannah. Sooner or later, she'll-" _It cuts off once she waves her hand, making me narrow my eyes and causing Hiro to tap a few buttons trying to bring everything back.

"I don't think we're gonna get the connection back." Hiro says, pushing the power button on the laptop. "I think she did something to it." I nod in agreement, inhaling deeply. I didn't know how to feel.

"That bitch is crazy!" Riley says, shaking his head. I back away slowly. I just couldn't speak. It was too weird. Everything about this is too weird.

"I think we got our answer." Huey says, and they look at me.

"Yeah... you some witch type shit." Riley says, and I shake my head. It wasn't real. I wasn't special. I was just a useless little girl. Someone who didn't do anything right.

It didn't make sense to me. It didn't even sound right. All of this wasn't real.

Sooner or later, I'd wake up from this dream, probably in my bed, pain filling my body from another beating from my father. Or maybe I was in a coma, my mom still home and my dad perfectly fine. They'd come to see me everyday, hoping I'd wake up once more.

Or maybe I really did die from that car accident.


	5. Chapter 5

"I found out more about her." Riley says as I wobble around the room, my own form of pacing. "She's currently staying at a hotel. Think we should slide through?" He asks, and I look at him, eyebrows raised.

"N-now?" I stutter. I didn't understand the point of that stutter but I couldn't stop. In my head I talked perfectly fine, but talking to others was a challenge. But everything is a challenge to me. I wasn't good at challenges. I wasn't good at... anything.

"Yeah. We gonna slide through real quick and then it'll be cool."

"B-but, Huey and Hiro are out-"

"Come on. Yo mom ain't gonna hurt you. Besides, Huey and Hiro have left us to stay here all fucking day and I ain't wit that shit. So are we goin or nah?" He says, and I look down, weighing the options.

Riley was right, Huey and Hiro had been running errands this whole week, doing who knows what. Me and Riley were just tossed aside, and I could understand the reason I was, but Riley was a very useful person. "L-let's go." I say, nodding my head.

His face split into a smile and he gets up, walking to the front room. "Put on some clothes girl!" He says to me and I look down. I was in a pair of old basketball shorts and a t shirt.

"I-uhm, I only have my pajamas. I-I didn't really b-bring anything…" I say and Riley stops, looking at me.

"Damn. Why didn't Hiro take any clothes with him when he did that creepy shit?" He asks, shaking his head. I look down.

"S-sorry."

"It ain't yo fault. We just gotta get you some clothes." He says, and those words ended us outside, getting ready to drive to the nearest H&M with someone's credit card. I hope it's his.

"It's mine, so don't worry." Riley says, seeing the worry in my eyes as he started up his car. "Used it to buy this beautiful work of art." He says as I enter the car. "1970 Dodge Challenger." He says a smile on his face. "Got it in all types of pieces, and I had to work my ass off. Ain't no one helped me with anything. But that just makes it better." He says, pulling up to the large store.

I look at it with wide eyes. I was actually afraid. I mean, I still had a cast on and I looked a mess, so what could I possibly get here? How could he even want to be seen with me. Should I just stay in the car? "R-Riley, I changed my mind, I-I-"

"Come on!" Riley groans, looking at me. "You wanna see yo mom in them dingy ass clothes?"

"N-no, b-but, Riley… m-my leg…" I look down at it, Riley doing the same. "Maybe I should just stay in the car.

"How you gon stay in the car? These clothes for you." He says, looking away and then out of the windshield. "You shave yo legs right?" He asks, turning to face me. My eyes widen and my mouth drops.

"W-what? What does th-that have to do with-"

"You gonna have to wear skirts and shit. Oh, then maybe you can get your hair done too. You would be hella fine." He says, and I frown. This was backwards. He was getting excited on me getting a makeover. Was he...

"D-do you have something you want to tell everyone Riley?" I ask, an eyebrow raised.

"Whatchu mean?" He asks, looking at me in confusion.

"You seem really enthusiastic about me getting a makeover..."

"You tryna make jokes!" He says, laughing. I smile a bit as he shakes his head. "Nah, nah, I ain't gay. If you must know, my last girlfriend knew how to-"

"A-ah, I didn't ask." I say, shaking my head.

"Alright. If you say so." He says, shrugging. He then opens the door, me following suit. Dresses won't be too bad. And maybe pressing my hair wouldn't either.

So, we spent an hour or two buying and trying on clothes. Which was weird. I didn't want to spend Riley's money either, but whenever I tried to say no, he'd launch into one of his… sexcapades. Which was disgusting. But in the end, was kinda fun. I'm glad I went.

"Now, I know this one great hairstyli- I sound hella gay." He laughs, me laughing along. "Well, this one bitch used to do my braids until I got all of that chopped off. Now she line me up. I'm pretty sure she do female's hair too." He says, driving me to said hairstylist.

"R-Riley, I think you _do_ have something you wanna tell us." I say, and he looks at me, a frown on his face.

"You triflin." He says, making me giggle. I've never really had this much fun with anyone before. Soon, we were at the very kind stylist's shop, and my hair was done.

I kept on getting compliments on how pretty I was and how long my hair was. I look in the mirror provided, almost gasping. My hair was long. It was a couple inches below my breast, and was probably a bit longer if the hair stylist hadn't trimmed my split ends.

I had to admit, I did look a bit better. I then look at Riley, a small smile on my face. "I told yo ass you would look good." He says, causing me to swat at him.

"S-Shut up." I mutter, turning back to the hairstylist and waving to her, thanking her once more.

"Alright, it is…" He trails off, pulling out his phone and checking the time. "Oh damn, it's two. What time did we leave?"

"Uhm… I don't know." I mutter, looking down.

"We gotta hurry up and dress you up for yo moms and get you over there." He says, quickly entering the car. I try my best to catch up, which is hard. You know, the cast and everything? Yeah. I open the door and get in, barely closing the door before he drove off.

"U-uh, Riley…" I mutter, buckling my seatbelt.

"Hm?"

"H-how did you find out where my mom lived?"

He looks at me, quickly looking back to avoid running a red light. "Well, I have my ways. She wasn't that hard to track. Once Hiro had that footage of her face, I was able to use that and the name you gave me. After that, all the results just landed at my feet. Her address, her previous name, her social security number, all that."

"Her previous name?" I ask, and he nods.

"I saw her birth certificate. Her original name was Lilura Thomas."

"O-Oh." I mutter, looking down. I didn't know that. I didn't even know her and my father were married. But then again, I didn't really know anything about her except that she was my mother and she was Wiccan. I really didn't know any of her side of the family. Which is sad, because I have known her for a good thirteen years. Yeah, its still a short amount of time considering, but it wasn't like we didn't have time together.

The rest of the ride it was silent, my nervousness filling the air. Seeing my mother was now something I truly didn't want to do. I was having major second thoughts, and when Riley pulled into the driveway of his house, quickly getting out and pulling bags from his trunk, I was stuck.

I really didn't want to go, and I couldn't understand why he wanted to either. My mother didn't seem like anyone he wanted to associate with. During that little… video stalking thing, she seemed cold and angry. Maybe that was just directed toward my father. Maybe she'd be a bit different once she saw me. Maybe she'd be just as mad as me as she was with-

"You gettin out the car or is you just staying there?" Riley asks, and I look up at him. He was leaning against the now opened door. How long had he been sitting there, waiting on me?

"M-maybe seeing my mom isn't-"

"You ain't gonna say nothing after I spent all that money on you." He says, making my eyes widen.

"Y-you forced me to-"

"Now you gonna get up, get ready, make any girly preparations and we finna roll out, aiight?" He asks, and I inhale, looking down.

I needed to stop being a baby and suck it up. If I really was some sort of weird being like everyone except me assumes, then she would hold the answers. She would hold all of them. I gulp and look up at him, determination hopefully in my eyes.

"Alright."

So with those words, I found myself in Riley's car, twiddling my thumbs nervously. I had picked a simple black dress, and put my hair up in a high ponytail, my newly cut bangs covering my left eye. We were in the parking lot of her hotel, and I've never felt so nervous in my life.

"Aiight, now Huey and Hiro know where we at, just in case some shit go down."

"Do we really think that low of her?" I mutter, and he looks at me.

"She's obviously still associated with your father. And we don't know shit about her."

"Y-yeah, I understand." She says, looking down. "I just… I just wish it wasn't like this. Y-you know?"

"Sorry Lei, but we can't let you get hurt. We obviously have a bigger part in this than we think. And if what yo mom says is true about that awakening shit, we gonna see it through. You feel me?"

I nod. Like I said before, I truly was blessed to be surrounded with such people. These three guys, really wanted to help me, just because we were friends. Weren't humans just great. "Let's go." I say, opening the door and walking out, closing it after me of course. I'm not gonna leave his car door open. Riley looks at me, surprised at my newly found determination but shrugs, exiting the car and closing the door. I prop myself against the car as he opens the trunk and pulls out my crutches. We had a bit of trouble getting them in, but that was because Riley was trying to put them side by side instead of on top of them, which made more sense.

He hands them to me, and I give him a small smile in thanks. He had dressed up too, only because I didn't want to feel left out. So he was in a dark red silk shirt -which he left the some of the top buttons unbuttoned because he thought it looked better. It didn't mean much to me, but I did notice he had tattoos, which was cool- and black slacks.

We stroll into the hotel, well Riley strolls and I hobble or whatever. I watch as he walks past the hotel receptionist desk and to the elevator. I follow, trying my hardest to keep up. We enter the elevator and he presses the button for the third floor.

"What room?"

"Room 304." He says, and I nod, slightly surprised. He just knew everything.

It's silent as the elevator takes us up. Finally the doors open and he strolls out, me following as always.

"301, 302, 303…" He trails off and stops. "Here we are." He says, and looks at me. "I'll be going in first." He says, and I frown.

"B-but what if something happens? What if-"

"That's exactly why I'm going in first." He says, smirking and knocking on the door. I frown deeply and look down. "We're going in emotionless." He mutters to me, and I nod, all emotion leaving my face. I was good at doing emotionless. I look up at his face. So was he.

The door opens and I, well Riley, comes face to face with the woman in the video. The woman who was my mother, I guess.

"How may I help you?" She asks, looking him up and down. He must be blocking me from her view. She raises an eyebrow.

"We would like to enter." He says, slightly shifting to show me. Me and the woman meet eyes. I felt weird calling her my mother, sorry. I don't even know if I should.

"_Filia_." [**Daughter**] She whispers, her eyes wide. I keep my face blank.

"Can we enter?" I ask in a steady voice. I wasn't feeling steady though. It was hard not to stutter, but if I did, it would show weakness. I may be useless, but I wasn't weak. Or at least, I didn't think so. I hoped not.

"Of course." She says, moving away, letting us enter. When she saw my leg, her mouth dropped open. "Did that fucking scum break your le-"

"I got hit by a car." I interrupt. I felt rude, but I couldn't help it. How was I supposed to act? She was the woman who ended up being the reason why I was abused. It sucked.

"A car!" She says, walking over to me. She places her hands on my shoulders, making me tense up, and looks into my eyes. "What were you doing to get hit by a car?" She asks, panic in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter." I say, taking a step back. "We have some questions for you to answer."

"And we want the truth." Riley says, taking a step near me. He wraps an arm around my waist, bringing me closer to him. "And please, until we can trust you, don't touch her."

"What?" She says, her eyes filled with anger. "This is my dau-"

"I have a very important task to fulfill, I'm sure you can understand that." He says. "And seeing as how you are associated with the man who beat her, I don't think I can let you be around her without me or my brothers around." He says, and I smile a bit. He thought of Hiro as his brother? How cute. "I real life don't wanna have to beat anyone's ass."

She smirks, shaking her head. "As if you can take me-"

"_State!_" [**Stop!**] I call out. Didn't really know where it came from, but once it slipped from my lips, all words stopped. Everything kinda stopped. "Now everyone needs to calm down." I say, and the air around us shifts I watch Riley exhale, his arm still around me, but the tension seemed to leave his body. He actually listened to me.

"You've gotten so strong..." I hear, making my look over. To her. "So what was it that you wanted?" My mother asks. Calling her that was still weird.

"Answers." I say. "What am I? What is this?" I think, trying to think of other latin phrases. They seemed to have power, more than english orders. It seemed as if I had a small bank of spells or whatever in my head, which was kinda cool. If I knew how I knew them. "_Et ego volo veritas._" [**And I want the truth.**]

I just ordered my mother to tell me the truth. Wow.

"You are a witch." She says, looking at me. "If you hadn't known." She says, the words seemingly slipping from her lips. Seems as if I held power over her. "You are going through your awakening."

"And an awakening is?"

"When your powers awaken." I could've guessed that. I fight the urge to roll my eyes. "This is when the teachings that I had given you from birth unlock and you enter the world of the other witches."

"That's cool." Riley says, looking down at me.

"Why did you leave me?" I say, my voice slightly quieter than usual.

There was silence, my spell thingy seeming to wear off and leave her silent. Or maybe it didn't work at all. "I had to leave because your father wasn't what I thought he was. The seven years I knew him were misleading."

"So you just leave me with him." I say, nodding. "Sounds like something any mother would do." I say sarcastically.

"I didn't want to die!" She exclaims, making me frown and anger to rise up in me.

"Neither did I!" I shout back. How dare she. I feel Riley's arm around my waist tighten, trying to comfort me. "Alright. We have all we need." I say, shaking my head. "I would say see you later, but no. I don't want to see you later. I don't want to see you ever." I say. I was hurt. How could she ditch me with someone even _she_ was afraid of. "We'll see ourselves out." I nod, and he lets go of me, and I hobble to the door, opening it harshly. I really wanted to slam the door in her face, but Riley closed it behind him.

"Well, that was… productive?"

I shake my head. "A little. We got answers. That's all that matters."

"Do you think you will ever have a relationship with her?"

"No. I don't think so. She can easily protect herself with her vast amount of spells, yet she's afraid of a mere man. The same man she threatened to kill. She boasts at how you couldn't do anything to her, yet she feared for her life?" I shake my head again. "I don't buy that shit."

He looks at me surprised. I never really cussed, but right now, I was just so angry. Nothing about her made sense to me.

"Yeah, I feel it."

Once we walked outside, I stopped walking, looking up at the sky. There was something wrong at the moment. Something was going on. The sky shouldn't look this... dark.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked, looking back at me.

"Do you feel that?" I ask, closing my eyes slowly. It felt like something was twisting my soul around. How could I feel my soul? Does that come with the witch package? When I opened my eyes again, there was something there, something large and black. "What is that?"

"What's what?" He asks, looking up. "Whatchu looking at?"

"You don't see that?" I ask him, looking at him. He frowns in confusion, walking closer to me.

"Nah, what's going on?" He ask, and I grab his hand tightly my crutch falling, but I look back up, ignoring it. I don't know why I felt the need to hold his hand, but I thought it would help him see or something... Plus, I was a little scared. My soul, or whatever, shouldn't be feeling like this. "Woah… what the fuck is this shit?" I guess it worked.

"You can feel it now?" I ask, and his mouth opens, looking at the sky.

"That shit ain't supposed to be there. What the fuck is that?" Could he only see it?

"A portal." Someone says, and I look back meeting the eyes of my mother. I feel my eyes narrow and I look back at the black hole "Someone has opened up a portal for something." She looks at Riley. "Take her somewhere safe and set up some barriers. We don't want what this is attacking her."

"Barriers?" Riley asks, keeping my hand tight in his.

"Salt will work. Around any doors and windows leading outside. It'll keep spirits out or anyone possessed."

"It's a spirit?" I ask, and she nods.

"Most likely." Most likely? Wow, thanks for the help. Sorry, I was being extra spiteful and sarcastic. I just... couldn't help it. "You have to go home now. Right now." She says, and I let out a breath, letting go of Riley and picking up my crutch, ready to hobble as fast as I could. "No. Pick her up Riley. It'll be faster."

"Uhm, no it's o-" I was cut off by my own squeal as he picked me up, crutches in my hands, almost hitting him in the face.

"Let's go." He says.


	6. Chapter 6

I watch as Huey spreads more salt on the ground. "S-so we're really taking this seriously?" I ask, and he turns to face me.

"Of course." He says before turning back to the salt, checking to see if it was everywhere.

"Alright, we're done." Hiro says, wiping his hands of salt. He walks over to me, sitting next to me on the couch I was in.

"A-are we really doing this?" I repeat, watching as Riley walks into the room.

"Hell yea." He says, sitting on the other side of me. I watch as Huey sits in front of us. "We not gonna let you get taken by some spirit shit." Riley continues and I look down.

"Until you remember your mother's teachings, we aren't letting you out of our sight." Huey says, and Hiro shakes his head.

"Even then, we aren't letting you out of our sight." Hiro says, crossing his arms. "We don't know how soon it'll be when you remember these teachings, or whatever, and we don't know if this portal spirit is targeting you. If it is, even with the teachings, you aren't leaving anywhere without us."

"Which means we should be prepared to protect her from some spirit thing." Riley says, looking around. "I don't think we can fight that nigga wit the skills we got right now. We don't know what the fuck this nigga's about." He says, and Huey nods.

"B-but, y-you can't leave the house. A-and Mr. Freeman's gone…" I mutter.

"I told him to go stay with our Aunt for a couple of months maybe." Huey says. He must think of everything. "The last thing we want is to have him hurt."

I nod, agreeing. If Mr. Freeman was hurt, it'd be all my fault. This whole thing is all my fault. If I hadn't been hit by that car, this wouldn't have happened.

"D-did you tell him why?" I ask, and Huey shakes his head.

"I told him it was unsafe, and to leave. He asked a lot of questions, but he eventually agreed." He says, and I nod, looking down.

"I-I'm sorry." I mutter, and Hiro wraps an arm around my shoulders.

"Don't be. I'm pretty sure we have the option of not doing this. But we want to. You're our girl, we're here to help." He says, giving me a small smile.

"Thanks." I say, placing my head on his shoulder. It's silent for a couple of seconds until Riley makes a sound.

"When was the last time we checked on yo dad?" He says, looking around. I sit up, frowning.

"U-uh, I don't… remember." Hiro says, dropping his arm.

"What if he's the one who opened that portal shit?" He asks, getting up. "What if he summoned some demon nigga and-"

"Riley." I say, shaking my head. "I don't think so-"

"Hear me out tho. What if it was! What if yo mother knew, and that's why she told _us_ to set up a barrier. What if she lied to us, and this salt shit don't work."

"It'd be a waste of salt." Huey says, and I look at him. Was he trying to crack a joke?

"Huey, now is not the time to be playing!" Riley continues, looking around. "What if her priorities aren't with Leila, but with her dad?"

"Wait, who's dad, Leila's dad, or her mother's dad?" Hiro asks, making me laugh a bit. "I'm lost."

"Fucking Leila's dad!" Riley says, throwing his hands up. "What if I'm onto something here and y'all just cracking jokes. We could be dead in the next couple seconds because y'all wasn't taking me seriously."

"Ok." Huey says, causing Riley to look at him. "It's most definitely a possibility."

"Thank you nigga!" Riley says, throwing his hands up.

"So, whatever plans we had to sharpen up our skills start now, in any open space you can find without breaking something. And if you go into the garage, you'll have to fix the salt barrier." Huey then look at me. "Practice your latin." He says, and I nod, looking down.

With those words everyone gets up. I watch as they all go separate ways and sigh. How would I be able to practice latin. I don't even know the basics. I couldn't even remember how the words I did say sounded like.

As if he read my mind, Huey came back into the room, a book in his hands. "Here." He says, and I take it from him. It was a english to latin dictionary.

"Th-thank you." I say, giving him a nod.

"Yeah." He says, walking back into his space. I crack open the book, looking through it. I wondered if I could make anything into a spell. Do spells have to be rhyming? Or does it just have to be an order? I look down at my broken leg. The best guinea pig is yourself, said no one in the world. Except me.

I flip through some pages, slowly saying the words I was looking for. "O-ok, so r_emovere jactaret._" [**Remove the cast.**] I say, my voice timid. Nothing. Maybe if I spoke in a firmer tone. Would that work? I clear my throat, staring at the leg cast. "_Removere jactaret._" As if it was professionally cut by a doctor, it split apart, showing my ugly looking leg. That was gross.

Now time for step two. I look through the dictionary, slowly saying the words in my head until I got them right and memorized. This would be tricky. "Curam mei.. o-ossibus fractis." I say, then repeat it a couple of times, just to make sure I got it right. "_Curam mei ossibus fractis._" [**Take care of my broken bones.**]

I feel my breath escape me and I bite my lip to prevent from crying out in pain. It felt as if my leg was rearranging itself and my wrist felt like it was twisting into place. Maybe that was a bad idea. It was a bad idea. This was a terrible idea. This hurt so bad.

I close my eyes tightly, little tears slipping past my eyelids. Fuck this hurts. I exhale as the pain starts to slowly fade. So was I okay now? Was my leg alright? I wiggle my toes and swing my leg. It didn't hurt anymore. I look around, reaching to grab the crutch leaning against the wall, just in case. I place my weight on the crutch, slowly standing. So far so good.

I walk around a bit. My magic seemed to work. My leg was fully functioning. That was great! Maybe… I was slowly starting to have some use.

Now it's time to take a shower and was this disgusting leg. I'm never breaking my leg again, it was so unsanitary.


	7. Chapter 7

"_Vellem videre rosa._" [**I would like to see red roses.**] I say, and right before my eyes roses fell onto the table. "_Nunc hyacintho._" [**Now blue.**] The roses turned blue and I smiled. Being a witch wasn't that bad.

"Aye." Riley says, looking at me. I give him a small pleased smile. The roses really boosted my spirits. "What happened to yo shit?" He asks, wiping his forehead of sweat. He must have worked out really well.

I stretch my arms, still smiling. "I-I got better and healed myself. It hurt… b-but it was worth it."

He frowns a bit, but shrugs. "That'll be useful when yo father comes for a fight." He says, moving to walk away, probably going to shower.

"R-Riley… about that…" I mutter, stopping him. He looks at me. "Do you really think… that he'll do that?"

"He has beaten you, so I ain't putting that shit behind him. And all of our cameras are gone."

"W-what do you…"

"He found all of the cameras in the house. Which is crazy. Those camera aren't easy to find. Your mother was able to disable them, so either she or whoever that spirit is found it."

"W-what if it isn't a spirit?" I look down at my hands. "What if it isn't a spirit at all and this salt barrier won't have any affect on them when they find us. And what if it's an army of things?"

"Well then you better get prepared to be using your powers." He says, giving me a small smirk. I nod, turning back to the dictionary. This book was really useful. My mother said that they would come automatically, but maybe Riley was right. Within mere seconds, we could all die, and I don't have the time. I knew I needed these spells fast.

"How's everything coming along?" Hiro asks, sitting down next to me. I watch as he uses a towel to wipe his face. They all must be working hard.

"P-pretty good. I managed to heal my broken leg and wrist. Hopefully that'll come in handy later on."

"Hmm." He says, taking off some gloves and wiping his hands. I wondered what was he doing? "Maybe we should get you a little journal or something to write all of the spells down."

"O-oh, what a good idea." I say, and he gives me a smile. "U-uhm, Hiro, what are you doing?"

He gives me a smirk. "I'm working on some weapons." He says, and I frown a bit.

"What?" I ask, surprised. There were a lot to these guys I didn't know, huh.

"I'm not just a pretty face you know." He says, and I shake my head. All amusement falls from his face as he speaks again. "Whatever is going on, it's gonna be big. None of us can afford to lose one another. So, I want to make sure nothing can take us away from each other." He smiles once more. "Besides, I bet Huey's in his room making all types of chemicals that could potentially kill someone."

"W-wouldn't that be dangerous? He could get hurt."

"It's Huey. He knows what he's doing." Hiro says, shaking his head. He gets up once more, putting on his gloves. "Well, this was a nice break." He says, giving me a smile. "But I have to finish. Keep working on that latin." He walk off and I look down at the book.

It was weird. I knew so little about them, but it seemed as if they knew my whole life story. Maybe, hopefully, with the time we end up spending together, I can get to know them better. After all, they are the trio of guys I'll be fighting… whoever with. If we don't know each other well, our teamwork would be horrible.

I learned that from movies… I think. Whatever, I don't know.

I look down at my legs. It was nice to have the cast off. I didn't even know I could do that. Maybe I could do anything. Maybe I could make us all immortal. Wait, did I have that type of power? And what if that came with a sacrifice? I'm not good at sacrificing. Well, I wouldn't know, but I didn't think so. Giving up something dear to me sounds scary.

Maybe because I didn't really have anything that was dear to me yet. Except the guys. And if I had lost them, I'd be alone again. And I couldn't lose them. I wasn't gonna let that happen.

I look around, expecting Huey to come out and ask me on my progress, but he doesn't.

It wasn't like I was… hoping he'd come. I just thought he'd come since Riley and Hiro did. I frown a bit, shaking my head and looking back at the book. I should study it more. I open it flipping through the pages. What if I ordered myself to know every latin word. Would that work? Should I try it?

No. I don't know what side effects it would have. Instead of randomly saying spells, I should think about them more. I look back at the withering flowers. They were dying so quickly. Maybe because they were a product of my spell. I wondered if I was stronger, they'd last longer.

Wait, what if I could see into someone's house with those cauldrons filled with all types of ingredients. That would be cool. If I knew what they were. Or maybe I could just see it with just some simple words. That would be cool too.

I open the book, looking through the book. Maybe I could see if my father is the one who opened that portal.

"Ok… so I say…" I flip through some pages looking around. I frown. Do I say his name before or after? "_Ostende mihi, pater mi, Abel Thomas_." [**Show me my father, Abel Thomas**]. Nothing happens. Maybe I have to look at something. Maybe a mirror or something cliche like that. I get up, walking to the bathroom, looking directly at the mirror. "_Ostende mihi, pater mi, Abel Thomas._" I repeat, and the mirror goes dark.

It worked. It shows me the living room of the house I used to call home, my father sitting in his favorite leather chair, a beer in his hand. "_An qui cum eo erant?_" [**Does he have anyone with him?**]

"_Nescius dominam._" [**We do not know, mistress.**] Something replies, making me jump back. It was two voices

"W-what was that?" I mutter, looking around. No one was there with me. "Show yourself!" That was stupid to say, what if it was a huge monster that I couldn't defend myself against. I was stupid.

"_Est nobis servis tuis, domina mi._" [**It is us, thy servants, my lady**]

"Servants? And… who is us?" I look around. "And please, speak in english." I say, then frown. I knew what they were saying in latin. I'd rather hear english though.

Suddenly, two white fireballs appear in front of me, making my eyes widen. "What the fu-"

"Mistress, it is us, Merle and Svana. We have been your faithful servants since birth." One of the fireball says, and I look around. I felt really light headed. I exhale, sitting down on the covered toilet.

"I think I'm gonna pass out." I mutter, placing a hand on my forehead. I look back up at the fireballs. "So, what do you do?"

"We do whatever you desire. We also keep the balance of you and your warrior's powers." the first one says.

"Warriors? What do you mean?" I didn't have warriors.

"The three men you live with." The second one says, nearing me. It sounded like a girl. "You have the ability to give them some of your spiritual powers."

"Oh." I mutter, looking around. It was weird talking to a fireball. Wait, wouldn't they burn down the place? "Why are you just showing yourselves now?"

"You asked for us." The first one says. I really needed to be able to tell the two apart. Maybe the second one is Svana? Well, Svana sounds like a females name, and the first one was definitely male.

"Oh! My father!" I look back at the mirror. It only showed me, like a normal mirror.

"Oh, sorry Mistress. We will show you your father again." The first one says.

"Wait… you guys are the ones who do all the mystic stuff?"

"You order us, we give you what you want." The second one says.

"So, you two are the ones who aren't strong enough to keep the roses alive?"

"In order for us to do what you say, we must access your spiritual power." The first one says. "We depend on you. We are merely your weapons. You are the key factor."

"Oh." I mutter, looking down. Why was I trying to place the blame on these two fireballs anyway. "Why didn't my mother tell me about you?"

"You did not ask her."

"Oh." I look back at the mirror. "Can I send you two out to do something for me?"

"Of course Mistress." The second one says.

"_Custodirent eum. Indica mihi si sit periculum._" [**Watch him. Tell me if there is a threat.**] Without a word the fireballs fly off and I exit the bathroom. I meet eyes with the three guys. Where they listening to my conversation with my fireballs?

"Were you talking to yourself?" Hiro asks, and I shake my head.

"I own fireballs who do my bidding." I say, earning different reactions from them. Huey raises an eyebrow, Riley laughs and Hiro gives me a confused frown. "I'm serious. Merle and Svana. They are the ones who carry out the spell using my power."

"That's… weird." Hiro says, and I scoff.

"Everything about our situation is weird." I shake my head. "Besides, they are coming in handy."

Riley's laughter dies and he looks at me, wiping his face. Nothing about that was funny. "You know what I realized? Your stutter stopped."


	8. Chapter 8

"Should we be leaving her alone like this?" I hear someone outside the door say. It's been months. Whatever was in that weird portal had already entered and not one move has been made.

Salt was swept up; all those preparations that have been made have been stored away for a later time, when the threat returned, if there ever was one; and everyone slowly forgot about it. Except for me.

I couldn't forget. Not only did Merle and Svana constantly chatter about it, but I felt it. The uneasiness that rest in my soul never left, so I figured the spirit is connected directly to me. But I didn't talk about it. I had no need.

"She has those… things." Another voice says, and I inhale deeply.

I was meditating. I needed to know what that thing is.

"You called me, Mistress?" Svana asks, making me look at her.

"It's kinda weird seeing another human thing." The voice outside my door says. "Like… I thought she was going crazy when she was talking about fireballs, but those things can change into anything."

"You wish me to make them depart, Mistress?" Svana asks, and I shake my head.

"And then they roam around here like…" The voice trails off, and I let out a breath.

"Ostende mihi spiritum." [**Show me the spirit.**] I say, and she pulls out a mirror, holding it up before me. I watch as she runs a hand over the mirror, revealing my father's living room. I had known for a while the two were involved. He was in fact the one who summoned him.

I watch the spirit drift around, looking.

"What is he looking for?"

"Your scent, Mistress." Svana says. "He has been looking for a long time."

"Hmm. Does my father not have anything that-"

"Leila, are you okay?" Riley asks, bursting in. "Oh… Wassup."

"Master Riley." Svana says, nodding at him.

"Uh, did I interrupt something? I can-"

"It's fine, Riley." I say, giving him a small smile. Out of the three of them, I was the closest to Riley. Unlike Huey, he actually made mundane conversation with me, and didn't treat me like a delicate flower, which was what Hiro did. He treated me like I was normal and I needed that. "What's up?"

"I just… you've been cooped up in this room all fucking day." He awkwardly looks at Svana. They weren't used to seeing her or Merle in flesh. If they ever did see the two, they would be in their wisp form. That was because I wasn't strong enough before. When I was strong, so were they.

"_Discedite Svana._" [**Depart Svana**]

"Yes mistress." Svana says, bowing her head, and like that, she was gone.

"Uh, that shit is fucking weird." He says, and I shrug.

"They're like my parents." I say, smiling a bit. "So, you've stopped my meditation. What is it that you want?" I ask.

"Ugh, I fucking hate it when you talk all proper." He says, sitting down next to me.

"Sorry, I can't help it." I say, laying my head on his shoulder. "I'm so used to 'talking all proper' when I speak latin, it merges itself with my english."

"This shit really changed you."

"Good or bad?" I ask, looking up at him. He frowns, thinking.

"Good, I guess. I don't know. You just changed. You're more mature." He sighs. "I feel like you turning into Huey."

"Never." I say without thinking before shaking my head. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Huey's great, but I could never. He's very… disciplined. I'm not even close to that level."

"You're fine the way you are, you know."

"Yeah. I'm pretty cool." I say, pulling myself away from him and getting up, stretching. I grind my teeth a bit, feeling a tug on my chest. The turmoil in me was uncomfortable. It was like an ache, something I couldn't relieve, but I was used to it. Too used to it.

"Svana." I call out, turning my head. I hear a sigh from Riley and I wince. I knew he hated it when I was all 'witch work' -as he loved to call it- and not play, but this was important.

"Yes mistress?" Svana asks, taking a step toward me from thin air.

"_Adduc eum ad me._" [**Bring him to me**] I say, causing a look of uncertainty to fill Svana's face. Svana possessed such beauty. Her skin dark and smooth but her hair as white as snow. Her features looked as if they came from a woman of pure African descent, her nose wide, her lips thick and plump, her eyes big and wise. She was the embodiment of beauty, at least to me.

Merle, he was the opposite, as expected. Where Svana was muscular, and a little on the thicker side, Merle was thin. Almost too thin, but then again, they were nothing more than the embodiment of my powers. His features were small and he looked as if he was from Asia. He was very handsome, but a bit too skinny for my tastes.

That was a joke.

"Are you sure, mistress?" Svana asks, and I nod.

"Please." I turn to the side. "Merle will go with you."

"As you wish, Mistress." Merle says, appearing out of nowhere and making Riley jump. "We will not fail you."

"I will do my best." Svana says, and I nod. I turn to the side, walking over to the wall, the two following me.

"What y'all doing?"

"Shh." I needed all of my concentration. I've only done this once before. I look at the wall, placing my hand in a spot. Merle and Svana reach forward, they're hands covering mine and the wall opens. Well, not the wall, but a portal. "You know where to go?"

"We will not get lost Mistress." Merle says, a small smirk on his face.

"Holy shit, is that a portal?" Riley asks, getting up.

"Stay back, Master Riley." Svana says, not turning around.

"Go." I order the two, pulling away from the wall and take a step back.

"We will do our best Mistress." Merle says, and the two bow. I smile at them, watching them take off, the portal closing behind them.

"Holy fuck, you're strong, Lei."

"It was nothing but a simple portal."

"Yeah, more than I can fucking do." He says, making me chuckle. "Where did you send them niggas?"

"To handle some business…" I mutter and he groans.

"You always keeping secrets."

"What?"

"You never talk to nobody anymore!" He says, getting up. "You stay in here almost all day, sitting there doing nothing or talking to your fucking imaginary friends!"

"They aren't imaginary." I say, crossing my arms. I didn't understand why he was mad.

"That's all you fucking took out that shit? It's like, you care so much for them niggas you forgot about everyone else!"

"I'm sorry, I just don't want us all to die!" I hiss at him. Me bringing the spirit here, to me, was much better than the spirit finding us. Here, with it restrained and kept contained it will be easier to kill. Having it go on a rampage, possibly hurting the three of them, wouldn't work. Plus, they wouldn't be able to harm it, leaving me, Merle and Svana on our own.

"Are you even fucking listening to me, Leila?"

"I'm sorry! I have a lot on my mind."

"Of course you do!" He shouts at me, and I close my eyes.

"Please stop shouting at me." I say in a level and calm voice.

"I'm just trying to make sure you fucking hear me when I speak." He says, crossing his arms.

"Inside voice."

"Fuck you." He says, making me look at him, narrowing my eyes.

"What the hell is your problem?" I ask, crossing my arms. "I'm listening now, so tell me."

"You! You're always hiding in here. You think none of us can tell when you're hiding something? We can all tell. We feel that shit! It probably has everything to do with your… weird witch prophecy shit. I don't fucking know! It's annoying!"

"I'm sorry." I say, trying to keep calm. This added weight on my chest didn't help. "I didn't ask for this. And I'm sorry you were dragged into it."

"That's not-"

"I try my hardest to let you guys live normally. That's why I meditate all day. You guys have your lives to live, and I will not be the one to prevent it. That's why-"

"You're fucking dumb." Riley huffs, relaxing. "What if we didn't want to be normal?"

"Everyone wants to be normal."

"Who are you to talk for someone else? I sure as fuck don't wanna be normal if it means that I can't be with you."

I close my eyes. "Riley you don't-" I wince, clutching my chest. Something was happening.

"What's wrong, Leila?" Riley asks, frantically. I take a deep breath. The ache had turned into a sharp pain.

"Nothing." I breathe out.

"Argh!" He growls, growing angry. "This is what I'm talking about! I know it's nothing! I can see it's nothing! I-"

"_Subsisto._" [**Stop.**] He stops talking, and I close my eyes. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you everything all the time. I don't mean too, but I have to. I don't want you to worry about me anymore. Please, forgive me. I just don't want you to be burdened with me anymore. I really really don't want you to be stuck with me for the rest of your life." I look down, feeling relieved that the pain in my chest was stopping. "You could go now." I mutter.

"You aren't a burden." He says, crossing his arms. "If you were, I would've been found you annoying and I would've fucking dipped. No matter what." He rolls his eyes. "Jesus fucking Christ, Leila, you got niggas out here caring about you and shit. We want you to talk to us, because aren't we your… warriors or whatever that shit was? Ain't we a team? Teams talk to each other! A teammate tells another teammate what's going on, especially if it's the goddamn leader. Talk to us!" He bites his lip for a second. "Talk to me."

"Riley-"

"Nevermind." He shakes his head. "If you don't wanna talk, alright. I'm tired of fighting." He walks over to the door and I close my eyes.

"My soul aches." I say, and he turns around, raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Something is trying to tear apart my soul." I say, looking down. "And I'm going to have to kill and absorb it's powers."

"That shit sound gross as fuck."

"Yeah, well, Svana told me that's what needed to happen or else it was going to happen to me."

"So, did you send yo slaves out to get it?"

"They aren't my slaves, and no. That spirit is only a small piece of whatever it is. I know whatever it is is much much bigger than this measly ass spirit my father conjured. It's looking for me, so I went out to get it."

"Why would you bring it to you?" He asks, crossing his arms. "That's stupid. It's gonna go back and tell whatever the fucks looking for you and-"

"It's not going to tell. It won't be able to." I say, closing my eyes. "I'm going to kill it. And whatever's looking for me is going to die as well."


End file.
